Germany leaks 5.9 million litres of hazardous substances in 2025
Around 5.9 million litres of water-contaminating substances leaked in accidents in Germany last year, down 8.9% from 6.5 million litres in 2024, the Federal Statistical Office said on Friday.
Source: Federal Statistical Office Germany · August 24, 2026 at 8:01 AM · AI-assisted report
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JOHOR, 24 AUGUST 2026 —
Around 5.9 million litres of water-contaminating substances leaked in accidents in Germany last year, down 8.9% from 6.5 million litres in 2024, the Federal Statistical Office said on Friday.
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About 2.4 million litres of the leaked substances—41.1% of the total—could not be recovered and remained in the environment permanently, compared with roughly 2.0 million litres in 2024. The agency said such swings are common because the volume of pollutants that escape and linger depends on the type and severity of each accident.
The number of accidents involving hazardous substances fell 5.3% to 1,461 in 2025, the lowest since 2010, continuing a decline that has persisted since 2017.
Of the 2.4 million litres that stayed in the environment, 1.7 million litres—69.9%—were classified as “generally hazardous to water.” Within that category, 805,300 litres came from manure, slurry and silage effluent, while 882,200 litres were fermentation substrates and residues. Another 76,800 litres—3.2%—were “slightly hazardous to water” (Water Hazard Class 1), including substances such as ethanol and sodium hydroxide.
Mineral oil products like heating oil and diesel fuel accounted for 198,900 litres (8.2%) in the “clearly hazardous to water” category (WGK 2). The most dangerous category, “highly hazardous to water” (WGK 3), contributed 43,500 litres (1.8%) of unrecovered pollutants, with mercury and petrol among the substances.
Half of the 1,461 accidents were attributed to human error. Of the 477 incidents during handling, 214 stemmed from mistakes such as operating or assembly errors. In transport, 741 of 984 accidents were caused by driver mistakes, collisions or single-vehicle crashes.
Water bodies bore the brunt: releases polluted surface waters in 432 cases, sewers in 370, groundwater in 46 and drinking-water supplies twice. Overall, 850 water bodies were contaminated at least once, with 135 accidents affecting two or more.
The Federal Statistical Office said the data cover only accidents in Germany and do not include cross-border incidents that affect German waters or illegal dumping events. From 2025, an accident is counted if it releases at least 50 litres of hazardous substances, occurs in a water-protection zone, or contaminates a surface water body, drinking-water supply, sewer or treatment plant.
The category “fermentation substrates and residues” is now tracked separately, whereas previously it was bundled with manure, slurry and silage effluent.
In three accidents the volume of released hazardous substances could not be specified, so those incidents appear in the count without quantity data.
Further details are available in the GENESIS-Online database (tables 32311-0001 to 32311-0006) and on the Federal Statistical Office’s water-management theme page.
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